Notes & Musings: Why “Gazing (Psalms27:4)”?
Here’s an attempt to explain what this Psalms 274 blog or digital journal (with the domain name psalms274.xyz) is all about, what to expect, and how you can help me in my pursuit.
I’ve been reading the Bible for most of my teenage years, when I professed to be a Christian from different parts of both the Old and New Testaments. For all those years, my initial understanding of the scriptures was shaped by what my then-teachers/pastors taught me and not necessarily from personal, detailed studying and seeking. Since being saved by grace in 2019, I have begun reading God’s word on my own, with a better understanding of what it is and why. Having read from different parts of the Bible (mostly the New Testament, with my initial favourites being Ephesians, Romans, the Gospels, and most of the Epistles), I then finished cover-to-cover books like Galatians, Job, Titus, I John, and II John. I have since then progressively delighted in hearing God speak to me through His word while struggling with the help of the HolySpirit to align my new identity with the sin-driven desires of my heart and staying consistent with spiritual habits I had set to follow. As someone who writes a lot, both personally and professionally, in those past years I have written up to a million words of notes as I wrestled through understanding different part of God’s word and attempting to answer some questions a few people asked me, which has formed the basis of my doctrine, theology, and Christian worldview (my wife is probably the only person who has access to all of them). Well, over the years, some of those views have changed, and others have either deepened or morphed.
So, my first goal: I’ll publish some of those notes in this journal over time, and perhaps write new ones as my understanding of God’s word strengthens, as an archive for both myself and others. Hopefully, this will help other fellow Christians who have started their journey in seeking after God. Some of these will be categorised into “Answers To” and “General Thoughts” tags. This will also be an avenue to get some of my understanding challenged and broadened by those whom my good Lord in His providence will bring from all corners of the world to read and leave a comment (as I have been privileged to physically enjoy through my local church).
Secondly, at the start of 2026, I began a fresh journey (I’ve tried to do this many times but never finished) into reading through the entire Bible this year, starting from the Old Testament. My desire for this is to see God’s redemptive work through Christ Jesus progressing from Genesis to Revelation as revealed by God 1 and to note the attributes of God I see being revealed through each chapter, that I may be taught, rebuked, corrected and trained in righteousness, being thoroughly equipped for every good work 2. Going through the entire Bible, I anticipate I will come across different familiar verses/stories I have been taught as a child, but never studied myself to get the biblically consistent interpretation. At the end of each book, I’ll publish a few summary notes to capture initial reflections as the Holy Spirit opens my eyes to see, with the goal of having references I can return to as I try other Bible study techniques in the years the Lord will give me ahead. These will be categorised under the “Musings From” tag.
I’m taking this public journaling method to keep myself more accountable, perhaps provide some encouragement to others progressing a similar path, and contribute to the resources that will be recommended to those using the search engine and the “ever-rising generative AI” to find answers to specific faith-based questions. God has called us to look upon Him; to gaze. The true rest we all seek lies in resting in the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross, as St. Augustine puts it well 3. The more we prayerfully behold His beauty, the more we will know Him, become more like Him, and fulfil our purpose here: to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever 4.
A few final notes:
I’ve in the past two years fed from a devotional titled, The Poor Man’s Morning and Evening Portions, written by Robert Hawker (1753–1827), and as Monergism commented, “the great devotional classic received its unique name because it was originally published in small ‘penny’ portions so as to be affordable to the poor”. The idea was that each portion was written for the poor, who you would consider less educated at the time, hence the language used was as accessible as possible (spoiler: though accessible for their time, it was the older, 19th-century style of English, which might not be accessible for modern standards 🥲). Anyways, my desire is to do my best to do the same here, making every journal entry very layman-friendly for our time.
One of my weaknesses is that I tend to express a lot in writing and often am not able to be concise. This is something I’m working on because certain scenarios require concise communication, and I hope to put this into practice in this journal.
My goal is to share short essays that address the questions young Christians have, along with personal musings from reading the entire Bible, all leading to Psalm 27:4 becoming our heart’s desire (to seek, dwell, gaze, inquire).
The domain name of this blog or digital journal ends with
.xyz, which are the last three letters of the English alphabet, capturing the reality that the gazing referred to in Psalms 27:4 continues till the end of this world, ushering in the new one to come.If you have any questions resulting from reading any of the journals or something else, please do leave a comment to ask, and I’ll attempt to answer or refer you to other resources from those more knowledgeable than I am.
Grace and peace to you, dear reader.
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple. —Psamls 27:4 (ESV).
”20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” —2 Peter 1:20-21.
“16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” —2 Timothy 3:16-17.
“Great are You, O Lord, and exceedingly worthy of praise; Your power is immense, and Your wisdom beyond reckoning. And so we men, who are a due part of Your creation, long to praise You – we also carry our mortality about with us, carry the evidence of our sin and with it the proof that You thwart the proud. You arouse us so that praising You may bring us joy, because You have made us and drawn us to Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” —St. Augustine of Hippo.
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” —Revelations 4:11.